Even angels fall
by LeontillyBalambgirl
Summary: Rinoa is being tormented by unknown being, pulling the sorceress she'd tried to hide up from within her. When strange murders take place at balamb garden that conincide with her dreams how will Rinoa cope? And how will her Knight figure in all of this? Pl
1. Chapter 1

**Copyright:** Ok. i dont own ff8, or the characters. I don't own the song either. The song is 'somebody help me' by Full Blown Rose which was written/sung for the theme tune of the programme 'tru calling'. I don't own the lyrics, or that show for that matter. i own very little actually. I have a new library card. thats all.

**Note:**Okey dokeys here we go. This is going to be a few chapters long, more chapters coming very soon. Tried to go with something a little less fluffy with this, so hope it works out. Ok my thankyous.As usual thanks to anyone who has reviewed any of my work and anyone who is reading this.Thanks to my local library with its very cheap internet for keeping me sane while my pc was messed up. And then of course thank you to two of my fave people. This story is for them. For Hannah for being the best friend i could ask for and for basically putting up with me and also for rocking!han, one day we'll take over that evil school hehe. And ofcourseys to Wayne too for being all sweet and wonderfully random and for sharing the Squinoa forever view with me. no-one has been that nice to me ever. so you rock! Enjoy the story y'all

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_Rain was pouring down, the sky a murky grey. A young, raven haired girl stood completely still, the rain dripping down her face. She was surrounded by bodies. Dead bodies, sprawled in various ways across the ground in front of her. _

"_Don't say that. Stop it!" she cried as if she was speaking to someone. She was. There was a voice speaking directly to her mind _

"_It's all your fault Rinoa. You're evil. You can't fight it"_

"_N…No" she stammered the tears and the rain streaking mascara down her face "I …I didn't do this! It wasn't me…"_

"_look around little child. Do you see anyone else around? It was you and you know that." the voice taunted her_

"_This isn't real. This can't be real. Why…why would I do this?"_

"_why? You know why."_

"_No I couldn't have done this"_

"_Poor fallen girl. How naïve you are. Look down at your hands if you don't believe me"_

"_Rinoa looked down at her hands. They were blood stained. Crimson blood that was not her own. Suddenly realising what she had done, she began sorrowfully to scream……_

Rinoa woke up screaming her eyes tightly closed. After a few seconds she opened her eyes to see she was in her dorm room in Balamb Garden. She was pale white, and sweat was prickling at her skin. Her heart was beating at a mile a minute, her pulse racing. "Not another dream" she whispered to her self.

**_I'm being haunted by a whisper_**

_**A chill comes over me**_

**_I'm being trapped inside this moment _**

Rinoa got up and went into the bathroom. Splashing cold water on her face, she tried to figure out what these dreams meant. It was the third time she had dreamt of the voice talking to her. Each time she had watched herself be blamed for death and destruction. _'What the hell does all this mean' _she thought to herself. _'Maybe it's more than just a dream'. _A sickening thought entered Rinoa's mind. Was this her future? Could these be visions linked to her Sorceress powers? Lately Rinoa had felt as if she could feel the magic inside her getting stronger. She had tried to dismiss it as nothing. But these dreams were getting more confusing, and more terrifying each time. She was conflicted as to whether to pay any attention to these dreams, and she was torn as to whether to mention any of this to Squall. She knew he would be worried if he knew. '_It could still be nothing' _she thought trying to reassure herself '_there's no reason to make him worry over nothing'. _She went back into the room and lay on the bed, trying to wash the images out of her head and get some sleep.

The next morning Squall Leonheart was sitting at his office desk when Rinoa came in.

"Morning" he said looking up "you ok? You look a little tired"

"I'm fine!" she said sharply

"Ok then." Squall said a little taken aback by her tone. Rinoa sat down on a chair in Squalls office and put her head in her hands. "Sorry" she said "I'm just. Well, tired. I couldn't sleep last night"

Squall reached across the desk and took one of Rinoa's hands in his "Is everything ok?" he asked her "you've been acting a little strange the past few days"

Rinoa hadn't realised the dreams had been affecting her to the point where she was acting noticeably different. _'Maybe I should just tell him' _she thought '_Maybe it's better if I get it out. Maybe he'll tell me it's nothing to worry about..'_

"Well actually…." At that moment she was interrupted by the door to Squalls office opening and someone entering the room. It was a Garden student.

"You wanted to see me or something?" the student asked in what was probably the most unpleasant tone Rinoa had ever heard.

"You know" she said quietly not looking at the student "it's polite to knock. We are kind of having a conversation. Could you just wait outside one minute"

The student rolled his eyes "sure I can..oh wait hold on." he said with an unpleasant chuckle "I just remembered I don't take orders from you"

"I'm sorry?" she asked shocked by the attitude of the student.

"I don't have to do what you tell me. Just because your all snuggled up with the commander doesn't mean you can tell me what to do. You don't have any authority over me. Why should I wait outside…"

"Because you do have to take orders from me" Squall said, clearly annoyed by the guys disrespect of Rinoa "wait outside"

The guy rolled his eyes again and stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"What an idiot" Rinoa said

"I know. Not shockingly he's here for disciplinary reasons. Isn't my job fun?" Squall said sarcastically. "Anyway, what were you saying ?"

Rinoa hesitated "It's nothing, it can wait."

Rinoa got up and left the office walking past the student outside "Bye witch" he muttered under his breath before heading into the office.

Rinoa was fully aware of the fact that only about half the students of Balamb garden liked her. The other half were less accepting. Some saw her as an outsider. Some saw her as someone to gossip about because she was dating their commander. None of this really bothered Rinoa. But there were those few students who considered her to be only one thing; a sorceress. She was often looked at with fear and disgust, people obviously assuming she was evil. Some students seemed determined not to let her forget she was a sorceress and once an evil sorceress no matter how short of a time that was for. She would get comments in the cafeteria and the quad people whispering about her. Everywhere she went in garden she'd hear at least one person talking about it. Of course no one was stupid enough to do this around Squall, and Rinoa had never mentioned it. Her being a sorceress was a painful subject for both of them, so Rinoa just tried to get by ignoring the comments.

**_I've seen the face of my affliction, _**

_**of my reality, **_

**_I'm being haunted by the future, _**

_**of things that are yet to be**_

**_I'm being haunted by a vision_**

**_It's like the morning never comes_**

_**I feel this burning, this confusion**_

That night Rinoa dreamt again, trapped within her own mind. Another nightmare.

_Rinoa sat in the corner of the old, crumbling, orphanage building. She was holding her legs close to her and her head was buried in her knees. Once again she was being tormented by the mysterious voice. But she could not make out the words it was saying, and she could only make out her own responses_

"_I was" Rinoa mumbled, in answer to the voice_

_Although she could not hear what the voice was saying, she could feel the pain it was causing, as she watched the sad and terrified expression on her face_

_Rinoa suddenly full of anger at something the voice had said lifted her head "Don't talk about him!" she hissed at the voice. "Why wont you just leave me alone?"_

_As if she was in the dream herself, Rinoa could sense the tension and pain in that room._

_Suddenly, Rinoa clasped her hands over her ears "stop it" she wailed_

"_Stop it!" Rinoa screamed again, tears consuming her completely " She dropped her head into her hands. "He loved me" she whispered to herself. And she whispered it to herself again and again as she rocked back and forth in the cold, empty orphanage._

**_I'm not a hero no,_**

_**But the weight of the worlds on my soul,**_

_**These images burning my eyes**_

_**And burning me up inside **_

_**Free me, before I slip away**_

Once again Rinoa woke up screaming, tears streaming down her face. These dreams, or visions, were becoming more and more vivid and more and more intense. Rinoa had at first felt she was watching herself in these dreams, but in that last dream she had felt as if she was living it. She rubbed the tears away from her eyesand tried to think of what to do now. She knew she only had one option, and as much trouble as she had suspected it would cause, she knew she had no choice. She threw on some clothes and made her way to Squalls room. She knocked on the door, but received no response. "Squall?' she called through the door. "Squall you in there?"

She glanced at her watch. 11.57pm. It was highly possible that Squall was still in his office working, were she'd left him at 9pm. She made her way out of the dorms and into the main hall way of Balamb garden. Heading up to Squalls office, she discovered it to be empty. After searching for about half an hour she headed back to her room and decided to tell Squall in the morning. But as she slept that night, she had the most disturbing and vivid dream yet. She saw someone cruelly and violently attacking a young guy, perhaps 17 or 18. She had never seen this guy before. But she saw someone, a blurry shadow, throw a violently flaming fire spell at the boy, who dropped to the floor, scorch marks on his body. Her surroundings were unclear, blurred. The everything went black. For once she did not awake straight away and woke in the morning but she awoke still shaking, terrified and still hearing the echoes of the boys blood curdling screams in her ears. She dressed hurriedly and made her way out of the dorms. She knew that this was too much to keep from Squall. She had to tell him about these dreams. Once again making her way into the hallway she noticed a large crowd of students and instructors gathered around the entrance to the car park. She had no idea what was going on. The faces of the gathered people showed so many different emotions. Some were shocked, some were fascinated, some looked ill and one or two were crying. She pushed her way through the crowd, and spotted Squall kneeling down just inside the car park. She pushed through the crowds until she reached his side. But before she could speak she looked down and saw exactly what all the commotion was about. And when she saw the sight her blood ran completely cold, it was such a sickening sight. But it was it's odd familiarity that haunted her. Slumped against the wall was the body of a young garden student, a still searing scorch mark visible on his chest and the wall behind him….

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Well there was the first chapter. please keep reading. chapter 2 coming soon!


	2. a little doubt goes a long way

**Copyright:**Shock horror horror shock! i don't own Final fantasy 8. how shocking is that! i also don't own the song lyrics. They are taken from the song 'Run away" by Linkin Park. whom i do not own.they escaped.

**Note:**Well this is chapter 2. It's a bit of a boring chapter, but it kind of leads into the next few chapters which i promise will be very very cool and are coming soon. Again just some quick thank you's. anyone whoses vere reviewed any of my work. Anyone who read chapter one and anyone reading this. To my bro this time, it was him who i got all my linkin park songs from. To Hannah, who has been helping me out with this story hehehe pkot. And to Wayne, for the long and very cool emails! you made library's fun, and soon the happy dance will return! enjoy the story everyone.

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A million thoughts raced around Rinoa's head. This body, this poor dead soul was the boy she had seen in her dream. She immediately turned away from the body and buried her head in her hands. "It can't be" she whispered to herself. As she held her head, strange whispers started to creep into her mind. At first she couldn't make out what was being said, there were so many voices whispering at once. But then through all the tangled voices, one sickeningly familiar voice came through loud and clear. I t was the voice that had been speaking to her in her dreams, the same haunting, tormenting voice.

"_It begins" the_ voice said with a slight laugh

"What?" Rinoa said aloud, confused by hearing this voice while she was awake "W-what's going on?"

Most people in the crowd stared at her as she appeared to be talking to herself.

"Rin, who are you talking to?" Squall asked standing up

"_you know, what is going on child. You are after all responsible"_

Rinoa clutched her head in pain. Each word was causing agony.

"No I'm…..I"

Squall pulled Rinoa aside a few steps, so the onlookers could not hear their conversation.

" What's going on Rinoa? Why are you talking to yourself? Are you okay"

The voice was still tormenting her, and she found it hard to focus on what Squall was saying.

"_he thinks you're talking to yourself. He just doesn't understand. He never will. He isn't part of the true path Rinoa. He, like the rest will soon leave you"_

"No, that's not true. It's _…_I don't understand this. Who are you?"Rinoa gasped, tears trickling down her face

"Rinoa? Have you gone mad?" Squall asked, annoyance creeping in to his concerned tone.

"_Mad? Ha! This is the beginning, the seeds of loneliness and hate." _The voice laughed malevolently causing more and more pain. Eventually the pain overwhelmed Rinoa, everything went black and she collapsed to the ground.

_**Graffiti decorations**_

_**under a sky of dust**_

_**A constant wave of tension**_

_**On top of broken trust**_

_**Angry voices **_

_**under a sky of dust**_

_**Another wave of tension has more than filled me up**_

Rinoa flicked open her eyes and blinked a few times. Looking at the ceiling above her, she recognised she was in the infirmary. She was dazed, confused. "What happened?" She mumbled to herself. She sat up and rubbed her forehead. As she gradually became more awake she could here familiar voices talking outside the room.

"…I have no idea" She heard Squall say

"Look Squall, you have to do something" said the quietly confident voice of Headmaster Cid

She could hear the frustration in Squalls responses "I know I have to do something. I just don't know what. All we need is a murder investigation now. How do you think that's gonna make Garden look Cid?"

Rinoa gasped. A murder investigation. What if this all got linked back to her?

"I understand. But still, people are wanting answers. The family is furiously upset, and the students are terrified. This is a serious matter Squall. I must contact the appropriate authorities" Cid said sadly

"Fine" Squall snapped "Fine, do whatever you want"

Rinoa decided to get up, and join the conversation.

"Squall, I understand that…"headmaster cid started "Oh, hello Rinoa" he added spotting her in the door way

Squall immediately walked over to her and took one of her hands "Are you ok? What the hell happened?"

"I kind of need to talk to you about that" she mumbled quietly

"Well, I can see you have matters to discuss between the two of you, so I'll leave you to it. But please drop by my office later Squall so we can proceed with this matter" Cid said before leaving the room.

"Well?" Squall said clearly still frustrated, and waiting for an explanation. And he got one. Tearfully Rinoa explained everything to him. The dreams, the mysterious voice, and the dream of the boys death. At first she was met with a silent stare from Squall. But she was surprised at what came next. She had hoped that Squall would comfort her, and tell her it would all be okay, but that wasn't the case. Instead he blinked a few times, and trying to control the anger in his voice he said "And you kept all of this from me?"

Taken aback slightly by his attitude Rinoa struggled to explain herself "Well, I…"

"Why Rinoa? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"Because, I barely understand it my self. And I was so scared…."

Squall stared up at the ceiling "So..are you telling me, that you're responsible for that murder?" he asked confusedly

"No!" Rinoa automatically answered "Well, I don't know, but I definitely saw myself do it….but I didn't!"

"Are you completely loosing it?" he snapped at her before storming out of the room.

This was the moment that the voice chose to speak again

"_I warned you child, the seeds of loneliness. First comes suspicion and that so quickly becomes hatred. Don't you see were this is going"_

'Why are you doing this to me?" Rinoa wailed

"_I am not against you dear child, I am merely helping you find you're true path"_

"What are you talking about. Who are you?" she cried. But the voice was silent once again. Rinoa stared numbly at the wall. What was going on. Why was this suddenly happening to her. Was the sorceress in her becoming too strong to hide?

_**Now I find myself in question**_

_**They point the finger at me again**_

_**Guilty by association**_

_**Will You point the finger at me again?**_

That night Rinoa's sleep was disturbed again, disturbed by another vision of death. Once again she saw herself violently attack someone using magic. It was an older girl this time. A girl who Rinoa recognised as a student-instructor at Garden. Once again Rinoa could feel the energy rising inside her as she tried to fight against the dream. But it was too late, she saw the girl fall to the floor doubled over in pain.

The moment she woke up, just as early morning sun was first starting to make it through the windows, she knew she had to find Squall and tell him all about this dream. If she truly was seeing these vents, perhaps it was possible to stop them. She raced into the corridor and found it was completely empty, unusual even though it was early in the morning. She headed up to Squalls office and opened the door. Inside the room she saw Squall sitting behind his desk, resting his head on his hands. Irvine and selphie were stood in the corner looking upset, and zell was comforting a sobbing Quistis. "She, s-she was my friend" she sobbed "she was such a wonderful girl, why would anyone……" at that point a fresh wave of tears burst and she was unable to speak.

"W-what happened?" Rinoa asked, fearing she might already know the answer. Had her vision come true again?

"Another murder" Irvine said glumly from the corner

"Squall can we talk outside for a second" Rinoa asked choking back tears

He followed her into the hallway and shut the door behind him.

"Another murder? I had another vision last night. A young girl. I saw her death again. But Squall…it was worse this time…I think I saw myself do it…but I..couldn't have. I…"

At that moment Cid came rushing up the hallway.

"Squall. The students are in mass panic. I was thinking, before the police arrive you could call the students together, perhaps a brief meeting, just to explain events."

"Sure. I'll make an announcement"

An hour later the student population as well as the instructors all sat in Rows of chairs in the quad waiting to be addressed by their commander. Squall stood on the stage, behind the podium, while Cid, Edea, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Quistis and Rinoa, being the team holding the most power in Garden, sat on the stage behind him. At the back of the Quad Squall noticed the unit of police who had come to investigate the murders, obviously interested in what he had to say.

"Ok, thank you everyone for coming so promptly" Squall began "it's a shame we gathered under such circumstances. I'm sure you all know what's happened by now. Two murders have taken place. Our students, our friends. And it's tragic. We have no choice but to conduct a formal investigation. We know this will be hard on everyone, but please co-operate fully. Please answer any questions directed to you, and if there is anything you know that could contribute to the investigation please make it known to the police. Are there any questions?"

A voice came from the back row of the quad. "I don't have a question. But I think there's something everyone should know." the person speaking was none other than the guy whom Rinoa had encountered in Squalls office the other day. 'Everyone should know, that I lost a close friend. So you're conducting an investigation right? Well you're purposefully ignoring the facts right in front of you. Everyone knows right, both deaths were caused by magic? Powerful magic. And who carries that kind of magical power? Sorceresses! We are all looking so far for a culprit, when chances are they are right in front of our faces. Two known, existing sorceresses, are sitting before you right now, and no one has thought to investigate them. Whys that I wonder? Maybe because our two leaders, the leaders of Seed itself, have chosen to…"

"That's enough!" Squall shouted to the guy, who stormed out of the back of the Quad. A few of the investigators followed him, obviously intrigued by what he had to say.

"This will not end well" Squall muttered to himself as the students started to leave the quad.

By that evening Garden was crawling with police, questioning each and every student for information. Rinoa and Squall were in his office. Rinoa was sitting tears streaming down her face, and Squall was pacing the room. She had been trying to explain the dreams to him again.

"I don't know what to make of any of this" Squall said frustrated

"What, what if the police think it was me? After what that guy said this morning" Rinoa asked him

"I don't know. I'm beginning to think that maybe …you are involved."

The words hit Rinoa like a fist. "You think..I'm a murderer?"

"I don't know. But you were the one who said you saw it. And these deaths, were caused by magic and after all, it's true…you are …"

"…..a sorceress" she finished. "An evil sorceress" she whispered to herself. She headed quickly across the room and slammed the door behind her.

_**I want to run away but never say goodbye**_

_**I want to run away and never wonder why**_

_**Gonna runaway, gonna runaway**_

Rinoa lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She had no faith in herself anymore. Maybe she was evil, murdering people, being manipulated into these crimes by this mysterious voice. Maybe she couldn't fight against the evil within. All night she had thought about what to do. And she had come up wit one solution, but she didn't like it. But it was the only way she could make sure no one else could be hurt, that's she couldn't be a danger to the people around her. She reached for a piece of paper and a pen from the desk and slowly, with tears falling, she began to write. Tears were splashing onto the page, making little marks in the ink from her pen. She folded the piece of paper and placed it on the pillow. Walking over to the desk again, she picked up a frame that held a picture of her and squall. A brief smile played upon her lips. There had been such happy times for them, but it seemed that had come to an end. Removing the back, she took the picture from the frame and slipped it into her pocket before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her, and walking away into the night. As she reached the entrance of Garden she muttered one word before heading away and leaving her past behind.

"Goodbye"

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So theres chapter 2. please kkep with this story, it gets better soon. Any comments or sugestions are welcomed. hope you like the story.


	3. Sunrise, sunset

**Copyright: **Once again I hereby doth declare I don't own final fantasy 8. It s on the list of things I don't own. That list is very long. If you feel the need to sue me, you could have the list of things I don't own. On that list is also the lyrics in this chapter. I don't own them, they are from "Rose of Sharyn" by Killswitch engage.

**Note: **Well here is chapter 3. Chapter 4 coming very soon hopefully.oh and apologies for the typos, i only seem to spot them after i've posted the work! Thank you to the usual, anyone who has read or reviewed any of my work. thanks to Rinoa the Wastelander , glad you are enjoying the story!hope you like this chapter too.And Hannah and Wayne as always, I love ya guys. Stick with this story, it's just starting to get good! there's a lot of dialogue in this, but it's quite important, so please keep on reading. Enjoy the chapter everyone

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_**Numb and broken, here I stand alone**_

_**Wondering what were the last words I said to you**_

**_Hoping, praying that I'll find a way to turn back time_**

_**Can I turn back time?**_

Early the next morning Squall knocked on Rinoa's door. He wanted to apologise, he knew he had not handled any of this situation as well as he could have. Rinoa was obviously confused by everything that had happened and he couldn't have been any less supportive. After knocking a few times, Squall tried the door knob. Unlocked, the door opened revealing an empty room. Squall stepped inside, a strange feeling of worry coming over him. Wandering over to the desk, he noticed the empty frame.

"What the hell…?" he muttered to himself turning around. As he turned, something caught his eye. Lying on the pillow of the bed at the opposite side of the room was a white Square of paper. Suddenly full of fear Squall went and picked up the paper. His fingers starting to tremble slightly, he unfolded the note. He read down the page slowly, fighting back forming tears with each word he read:

_My Dearest Squall,_

_Now you're reading this, you've probably figured out that I'm gone. I'm truly sorry that I didn't say goodbye properly, but I knew that would have been just too difficult. I knew you wouldn't let me go, and I had to go. After everything that's been happening I think we both know I couldn't have stayed. I can't risk hurting anymore people. I know that somehow I am maybe responsible for the deaths, but I haven't figured out how yet. I think the time has come when the sorceress inside me can't be hidden anymore. Everything I feared, the hatred and fear people felt towards me was starting to rise again. And maybe I deserve to be hated, maybe I truly am evil, or at least on the path to becoming so. And I had no idea who I would hurt next, it could have been you. I knew I had to leave before I hurt you anymore than I already have. I know this will be hard for you as it is hard for me too, and in a million years, I never thought I'd have to say goodbye to you, to us, with a note. But that's just the way it ended. I want you to know though, that I love you still, far away as I am, and will always love you. I will treasure every memory you have given me. Thank you for being there for me, thank you for loving me. And Squall, I ask just one more thing from you; I want you to move on, to live your life. please don't come and try and find me. It will only hurt us both. It is better this way, as hard as it seems._

_All my love forever my knight_

_XX Rinoa XX_

Squall stared down at the piece of paper, confusion and disbelief causing havoc in his mind. She was gone. Rinoa, the girl he had sworn to protect, the girl he loved was gone. He read the words over and over again until they lost all meaning. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. _'Somehow no matter what I do, I always seem to end up left alone' _he thought to himself. But this time he knew he was to blame, at least partially. He hadn't bothered to realise just how afraid and confused she had been. He hadn't really thought how hard everything must have been on her. Suddenly his head started to painfully ache. He sat on the edge of the bed and rested his head on his hands, "how could I let this happen?" he muttered to himself. He stared down again at the end of Rinoa's note, '_please don't come and try and find me. It will only hurt us both.'_

Almost as if she was there saying the words to him he argued back "but I can't just let you go. I have to find you…."………………

Later that day Squall had the difficult task of breaking the news to their friends. He briefly explained what Rinoa had told him about the dreams and her fears and suspicions that she was involved in the deaths.

"But…but.." Selphie stammered "She couldn't be…..Rinoa's not evil"

"No" Quistis said firmly "Not the Rinoa we know. But after all she is a sorceress. Perhaps she could not suppress that side of herself forever"

Irvine shook his head and gestured wildly with his hands "Uh-uh. No way. I still don't buy it. Rinoa's not a killer"

"I know. Good lord do I know that. But all this, it just scared her. She hates that side of herself, the sorceress in her, and she just felt overwhelmed by it. So she ran"

Just then a knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Squall shouted to the person to come on. A tall, slender woman entered the room followed by a shorter, balding man. The woman addressed Squall "Commander Leonheart I assume?"

Squall nodded.

"I'm lieutenant Roberts. This is lieutenant Spencer. We're leading the current investigation. We'd quite like to speak with you" she glanced around at the little group gathered in the office. "privately please"

One after the other his friends filed out of the room and the woman shut the door behind them "We'd like to ask you a few questions please"

And so Squall spent the next hour answering question after question. Did he know the victims, did he know their background, did he know who their friends or perhaps even enemies were. Did he have any idea who could be responsible. After all the questioning the woman stood up and cleared her throat. "Well I think you've told us enough" She headed for the door, followed by her colleague but after a few steps she stopped and turned back to Squall "One more thing Mr Leonheart. Have you seen Rinoa Heartilly today?"

Even the mention of her name caused a fresh wave of pain to rise within Squall. He struggled once again to stop tears forming. He shook his head. "No"

The female officer glanced at her colleague. "I'm sorry, but we were under the impression that you and her were…..together"

"we were. I mean are. I mean………" he took a deep breath "she's gone. Ok?"

"Gone?" the short man echoed.

Squall was becoming increasingly irritated with these people "Yes, gone. She left."

Lieutenant Roberts crossed her arms over her chest sternly "Mr Leonheart, you are aware that she is in fact rather an important suspect in this case. And the fact that she was allowed to leave during a formal investigation and forgo questioning simply because you are…"

Squall was finding it incredibly hard to restrain from throwing these people out of his office they were frustrating him so much. "Well, I didn't let her leave. She just did. And why is she such an important suspect?"

Lieutenant Spencer glared at Squall. "You mean to say that she ran away?"

"you didn't answer my question. Why is she a suspect?"

"Mr Leonheart. You're girlfriend is a sorceress. That already causes suspicion. And now the fact that she has run away does not help her case at all. It looks incredibly suspicious in fact.if she was infact nothing to do with this, why would she run away?"

Squall clenched his fists and tried to control his anger. " I don't know. But I do know Rinoa had nothing to do with any of this. She is a sorceress but She is not evil"

Spencer took a little notebook from his pocket and flipped a few pages "She was at one time I believe though"

"You certainly did you're homework" Squall hissed at him

Spencer laughed to himself "calm down lad. But explain something to me would you? You see I always thought that SeeD's purpose was to defeat the sorceresses. Why did you decide to go the opposite way on that I wonder?"

"How the hell is this relevant?" Squall demanded

"Because" Roberts hissed "You so clearly are blinded by your feelings for this girl. If you will defy the purpose of the establishment which run out of love for someone, then what is to say you would not lie to protect her. I know you know were she is. So just tell me Leonheart"

"For the last time, I don't freakin' know were she is ok. How many times are you going to make me say this, she left me, no goodbye, no anything, She just left. If I had a clue in hell were she was you think I'd be here?" Squall snapped

Roberts, who seemed rather taken aback by Squalls anger hissed at him "fine. Say what you like. But we will find her. We will not give up until we find her. She just became the prime suspect in this case" with that she stormed out and her colleague threw Squall a dirty look before following her.

Squall banged his fists on his desk in anger. What had just happened? Rinoa was now the prime suspect in a murder case. They were going to chase her down, arrest her and persecute her undoubtedly for being a sorceress. "Rinoa" he said quietly to himself "I can't let that happen. I've got to find you first……"

_**What I would give to behold the smile, the face of love,**_

_**You never left me as the rising sun will always speak your name**_

Squall was awoken the next morning by a voice gently speaking his name. He blinked a few times, before noticing he was still in his office. He had been up all night trying to think of a way to find Rinoa and had eventually fallen asleep.

"Rinoa" he asked sleepily upon hearing the gentle voice, but looking up, he saw Edea standing before him.

He sat up and brushed some stray hairs out of his face. "Sorry matron. I was just…"

'I know." She said taking a seat in the office "How are you coping"

"Not well" Squall admitted "It's all my fault, that she left. I just don't know how to handle this."

"Squall, dear child you are not to blame. There were other forces at work here. Rinoa, she came to me a few days ago and told me of her terrible dreams and the tormenting voices she was hearing. I fear know I was not of much help. But you or I are not to blame. Whatever this tormenting spirit is, is responsible for Rinoa leaving."

Squall shook his head "but do you know what the last thing I said to her was? I told her maybe she was involved in those deaths. Because she's a sorceress."

Edea gently touched his hand "We all make mistakes Squall. What matters is how we fix them. We must find a way to help her."

"I have to ask you something. Is this all to do with her being a sorceress. Is she going to …turn?"

Edea sighed. "I do not know Squall. I wish I did. But from what she told me of the words this voice spoke to her, the goal of this spirit seems to be to turn her, to bring forward another evil sorceress. But before this, we must focus on Rinoa herself. We must save her, we have the advantage that we know her"

"I don't understand" Squall said confusedly

"From what she spoke of to me, doubt was planted in her mind. It can be a great hardship to doubt all that you know. And what does she know more than you? If you find her, I believe you will be the one to restore her faith"

"I wish it was that simple" Squall sighed

'Perhaps it will be or perhaps it will not. But no matter what Squall do not forget, you are her Knight"

"And I did a great job of that didn't I?" Squall sighed. "Besides, even if it was so easy. We still have to find her. She could be anywhere in the world."

Edea rose to leave "This is very difficult I know. But I will think of ways to find her. We will not give up on her Squall, I promise."

"Thanks matron. I…" But at that moment something clicked. The words 'I promise' echoed in his head. "I promise" he whispered to himself. "matron, wait! I think I know were she is!"

**_It wont be long, we'll meet again_**

_**Your memory is never passing**_

**_It wont be long we'll meet again_**

_**My love for you is ever lasting **_

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So theres chapter 3 for you. I am hoping at least one or two people are still following this story. i know it's got loads of dialogue, but i still think it's kind of intersting. there are either 3 or four chapters left to go. sugestions and comments welcome as always.


	4. Left behind?

**Copyright:** I don't own final fantasy 8. I think everyone already knew that. Don't own the lyrics in this chapter they are from 'Left behind' by VNV nation.

**Note:** ok, well here is the latest chapter. Again not a lot of action, but still quite interesting. Well I think it is hehe. Ok thank yous . Again Rinoa the wastelander, kirsten and SavannahX for reviewing my work (and to ironicending for reviweing my other peice!) and To the two usual suspects Wayne for being awesome and always reading my work and for all the cool emails. And to Hannah for helping me find a song for this chapter, she set me up with these lyrics. And also as always for rocking socks. Well hope everyone enjoys the story

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Rinoa shivered as she sat in the cold, rundown orphanage building. She had no idea why she came here. She was just drawn to it, almost like her head had followed her feet instead of the other way around. She wrapped her arms around herself trying to keep the bitter morning cold away as tears streamed down her face.It was not quite light and not quite dark. The sun had risen, but the morning was dull and rainy.

_**So afraid to open your eyes  
You know too well that which awaits you  
Something undefined there in the halflight  
The demon without  
The demon inside to plague and torment you**_

**_Feeling so sure, feeling so uncertain that something is wrong  
Everyone's gone and you have been left behind  
Everyone left the demon inside  
_**The only sound in the orphanage was the wind whistling through the old building and the waves crashing on the shore bellow. But suddenly the relative silence was broken. The tormenting voice once again began to speak to Rinoa.

"_Do not cry, dear child. This is not the end of the road, it is merely the beginning of a new path. The path you were destined for. You have finally freed yourself from the lies that you lived." _

"But" Rinoa sobbed "I don't want this life. I just want to go back to my..friends"

The voice let out a short laugh _'You are so naïve child. Friends. You had no friends. No real ones anyway. Do you honestly believe that anyone could accept you, knowing what you really are. You seem to be forgetting so easily your true self. You, are a sorceress."_

"N-no. That's not who I am. Stop trying to make me evil. I..I wont let you win" Rinoa cried

"_Ah, my dear girl. I have already won. I have cut the ties that bound you to your 'normal' life. You were so easily tricked. So little faith you had in yourself it was easy to get you here. A little trick of the mind, plant a vision or two in your head and how convinced you were that you were responsible for death and suffering"_

"Wait.." She stammered "You tricked me! I didn't hurt anyone. Why would you do that to me?" She buried her head in her knees, her mind swirling from confusion or hurt.

"_It was merely a means to an end my child. I had to place doubt in your mind, tear you away from the life you had built, the bonds you had formed to see your true path. You knew this is how it would end for you Rinoa. It was unavoidable. You were not destined for a life of good, no matter how much you pretended you were. You are a sorceress. Hated, feared. Everyone you knew, everyone you loved was afraid of you really, but you thought they cared You thought you were accepted."_

"I was" Rinoa mumbled. This conversation seemed oddly familiar to her.

"_My dear child. Who do you see around you now? The moment there was any doubt in their minds, any hint that the evil in you, the true self, was rising within and they ran a mile. Even one who claimed to feel so strongly for you, where is he now, this Knight of yours?"_

Rinoa suddenly full of anger lifted her head "Don't talk about him!" she hissed at the voice. "Why wont you just leave me alone?"

"_Ahh my child you are alone. As destiny intended so you can follow the true path of a sorceress. You can have power…"_

Rinoa lowered her head again "I don't want power… I just want my life back. I…..I just want Squall"

_The voice chuckled "But as you see he does not want you. Not now things are difficult. I must say I thought he would be the strongest tie to break, he was perhaps who I thought would save you form your true path that he considers to be evil. But how simple that was. The love, the promises it was all fake…"_

Rinoa clasped her hands over her ears "stop it" she wailed

"…_..it was all a mess, a lie…love could not exist for such an evil creature as you, really you were always alone" The taunting voice laughed "poor little witch. Deluded by dreams of a night. False as they were!"_

"Stop it!" Rinoa screamed again, tears consuming her completely .She dropped her head into her hands. "He loved me" she whispered to herself. And she whispered it to herself again and again as she rocked back and forward in the cold, empty orphanage trying to drown out the evil laughter of the voice..

_**You never forget the faces that haunt you  
Unable to sleep  
Unable to fight  
Unwilling to wake to open your eyes  
to face your oppressor  
Still you go on convinced it will end?**_

As the hours passed Rinoa shut her eyes tightly shut and tried to imagine she was anywhere but where she actually was. But no matter how hard she tried she could not shut out the cold wind or drown out the tormenting voice.

"_Dear child do you still not wish to believe me? You can wish and pray all you like that it had not turned out this way, and you can hope and dream that one day your knight will come to save you. Carry on if you like. But you're heart will be broken when you discover you have been left behind completely. Perhaps these people, you're friends, will haunt you forever, as a lesson. A lesson that you can not hide what you are. Empty hope, like empty promises, always fades away. Dear child, I do not wish to harm you. I am on your side. I accept the true you. Stay here and you will be safe, you will live as your true self. Trust me child, you have no one else. If you return home how do you think people will act towards you. They consider you to be evil, you'll be persecuted, punished maybe even killed. I'm offering you a better life than that. I'm offering you the power. please child, believe me."_

_**Can you remember  
a day when it was not, not like this?  
Unsure of yourself, unsure of your thoughts  
Unable to know if what you think is right or wrong  
Still you go on convinced it will end**_

"I don't know what to believe anymore" Rinoa sighed "I don't want this life. I want to believe in good, and in love. I want to believe in what I've lived."

Rinoa closed her eyes tightly and thought back to that one important moment, the moment she was promised a knight who would protect her forever.

"_I'll be here"_

"_Why"_

"_I'll be waiting here"_

"_For what"_

"_I'll be waiting for you. So if you come here. You'll find me. I promise"_

"Rinoa was half comforted by the memory, but half angered. "I came here Squall. But you weren't here…you didn't find me."

**_Like someone pushes a blade through your mind  
There on the edge where no-one will find you  
Is there no light at the end for you  
_**"_And so you see love is a lie dear child. You want to believe in memories, in promises made to you by someone you trusted, someone you loved. You cling to memories while falling so far. You cling to promises so empty that they were barely more than fantasy. What did that promise come to? Dear child, I am not the enemy. I am here for you now, when your knight is not. I am all you have"_

"Maybe..you're right. But I…I thought he'd come" she broke down into a fresh wave of tears "he lied to me"

'_You must move on. Let you're pain be replaced with anger, and your tears replaced with power. He betrayed you. Like the rest of them he suspected you. My child, he is a SeeD, he is trained to be you're enemy. Even if he comes, you can not be sure if it will be to save you, or stop you. My child you must recognise you're enemy now, or you will fall"_

Rinoa felt all the confusion in her mind mix with anger and pain. She felt herself, her thoughts slipping away, as if she was being taken over. She felt only a small part of herself remain. That part of her knew that maybe on Squall could save her. But her mind was in confrontation with itself, and her hope was shattered by the other half of her believing that he would never come to her. Everything had become to much. She sat down and pulled her body closer to her own knees, holding on so tightly her knuckles went white. She whispered to herself everything that was going on in her mind **"**he loved me. He promised me. ..But he never came." She clenched her eyes shut and rocked back and forward constantly whispering all her conflicting thoughts to herself.

_**Nothing is wrong  
You were not left behind**_

_**So open your eyes, So open your eyes**_

_**Unable to sleep, Unable to fight  
Unwilling to wake  
Please open your eyes, For here I stand  
Nothing is wrong  
Please open your eyes  
Nothing is wrong  
You were not left behind**_

As she sat there she heard footsteps. She heard them travel up the steps to the door, which swung open a few seconds later. She lifted her head and blinked through her tears at the figure standing in the door way. Wiping her eyes with her hand, she inhaled with shock as her view became clear.

"I found you" Squall said .

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Well thanks for reading this chapter. Theres 2 or 3 more till the end.now. Glad you're still sticking with the story though. i promise the next chapters good!


	5. Found, but lost again?

**Copyright: **I don't own final fantasy 8. How I wish I did. But nope I don't. I am in no way associated with it. Well I played it a lot. And I own a copy. Actually that's not strictly true, I just stole my brothers. But yeh, much with the not owning it or the characters.

**Note: Well** here's another chapter. We are getting very near to the end of the story. There's no song in this chapter because I couldn't find one I thought fitted well enough. Again not a lot of action and a lot of dialogue. But it's all pretty interesting and emotional in this chapter. So read if you want to. Lol there is a little bit of 'mental squall' in it if that interests you hehe. Again thanks a bunch to r, Rinoa the wastelander, savannahX and kirstenfor reading and reviewing. Am glad you are enjoying this story. Thanks as usual to Hannah and Wayne the rockingest people I know : ) . I am going to start this chapter with the two quotes which actually inspired it. One very memorable one from Squall which is my one of my favourite quotes of all time. And one from the vanessa carlton song 'rinse', which is another of my favourites Thanks for reading

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**"How she'd be soothed, how she'd be saved if he could see, she needs to be held in his arms to be free"**

"**Even if you end up the world's enemy, I'll be your knight."**

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Rinoa stared for a moment with utter disbelief. It was Squall. He came for her. Or had he come to hurt her. Seeing him only compounded her confusion.

The voice hissed in her mind immediately.It spoke with a mix of anger and desperation. Whoever, or whatever, this was suspected exactly what Squall and maybe part of Rinoa did; that he would be the one to save her, he could restore her faith. That he loved her enough to save her soul.

"_He's here to hurt you. Don't trust him"_

Rinoa immediately stood up and backed away from the door .She held her hands out in front of her and shook her head from side to side "Stay away from me" she breathed.

Looking at her ,Squall could see immediately that she was not herself. Something in her eyes seemed so different. Her eyes that had once been so soft, so warm and so gentle now seemed hollow, cold, empty and hard..

He took a few steps into the building and she tried to back even further away from him, but she smacked into the wall behind her. "I told you to stay away from me….." she said sounding even more angry.

"Ok. What's going on? I just wanna help you Rinoa" Squall said gently taking a few more steps towards her slowly.

"_He's a liar Rinoa. He's against you like the rest. Here's here to hurt you"_

There was something so cold and hard in her voice when she spoke that it was starting to scare Squall, but he sensed they were perhaps not completely her own words "You're a liar. I know why you're really here. You're against me. You're here to hurt me"

'No. I'm not. I'm on your side Rinoa. I just want to help you." after a few more steps he finally reached were she was standing. He reached out and took one of her arms "Just please come with me. Ok. Were just going to go home, yeah?" he said reassuringly.

Rinoa was conflicted and confused, part of her wanted to reach out to him, let him help her. But the part that seemed stronger was still being controlled by this evil voice

"_Home? Home were everyone who hates you is waiting to punish you for what they think you did."_

Rinoa instinctively and swiftly drew her other hand up from her side and scraped her sharp nails down the side of Squalls face, causing him to release his grip on her arm. "I am not going anywhere with you" she hissed scurrying to the other side of the room "You just want to take me back to all the others, so you can all get your revenge. You all think I'm so evil. You're just like everyone else. I know exactly what's going on. I'm not stupid Squall" there was such a painful undertone of malice and hatred in her voice.

Squall put his hand up to the 3 deep scratches on his face. When he drew his hand away, the tips of his fingers had blood on them. He knew this wasn't Rinoa's fault, he didn't even know if it was Rinoa he was talking to anymore, but he was finding it increasingly hard to control his anger. "you're not stupid Rinoa. You're crazy"

She narrowed her eyes at him " I am not crazy. I wont listen to you. You don't know what you're talking about and I don't trust you"

'This is insane Rinoa. How can you not trust me, I've never done anything against you"  
Rinoa seemed taken aback for a moment she stuttered "I…." but then in a second something changed back in her, she became cold and harsh again. Squall sensed she was wrestling with herself "No. No I know I can't trust you. Everything about you is fake. All you're lies all you're empty promises…"

Squall's anger was building up and up inside him and was close to exploding "What the hell are you talking about?" he yelled

"You never loved me!" She yelled back at him.

For a moment Squall was just frozen in shock, was he really hearing this right? It was at that moment that he completely lost his temper

"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU EVEN SAY THAT?"

"because" she hissed, slightly shocked by his anger "I know"

"You know? Really. What, some freakin' voice in your head told you that? And you believe it? You really have lost it completely. After everything we went through, the fact that you could even let that thought enter your head is a sign that you have gone completely insane. But seeing as you seem to think you know so damn much about this then maybe you can do me a favour and tell me what the hell it is you want from me?"

Rinoa just looked completely confused "what?" she breathed

"I'm serious. What do you want from me? What more do you want me to do to prove to you that I love you? What cry for you? Because I've done that plenty, no matter what you want to think. What else, you want me to die for you? Because believe it or not Rinoa, I came pretty fucking close to doing that too Rinoa"

She was completely taken aback by all that, and Squall saw something in her change. He saw some of the cold in her eyes replaced with a flicker of the warm-hearted girl he once knew

"I want…." she whispered "I wanted you to keep your promise"

Something about those words, or perhaps the helpless despair with which they were spoken, seemed to melt away Squall's anger. "Don't you see? I did keep it. I'm here aren't I?"

Angrily the voice in her head boomed _" Don't listen to him Rinoa. He's a liar. You know that, he was lying then and he's lying now. It's a trick. He's against you." _

"But" She protested "he's…no. no… I." she dropped down to her knees and pressed her hands tightly over her ears "I don't want to hear it" she wailed

Seeing her like this stung at Squall's heart. He could see that he was loosing her. She was there in body but the spirit and soul of the girl he knew was being pulled away.

He crouched down and took her hands in his. "Rinoa. Trust me, you have to listen to me ok? You have to fight this. You can do it, you're strong. Whatever you're being told, don't believe it. None of it is right. I love you that's all you need to know"

Rinoa felt as if she was being torn apart inside. She wanted to believe Squall, and just end all of this but this voice was pulling her away, or at least trying. It spoke urgently, sounding frantic to convince her _"it's lies, it's all just LIES! You're a sorceress, you're evil, no one can love evil." _

"I'm...evil" Rinoa whispered

"No, you're not Rinoa" Squall said to her "I know you're not and you do to. Just fight it."

"_Don't fight me child. You can not fight your future. And he is not a part of your future. Don't listen to him"_

"Squall" Rinoa pleaded "Please make it stop"

Tears were starting to roll down his cheeks " I can't Rinoa, I wish I could but I can't. only you can do that. I'll do anything I can for you but it has to be you"

The voice spoke angrily, causing her head to throb _"Don't listen! Trust me, I'm your only hope. I know the real you"_

"No. No you don't. leave me alone!" Rinoa cried

"_You can never get rid of me child. I'm a part of you. I'll always be there"_

Rinoa broke into a wave of hysterical tears "Squall you have to end this for me" she squeezed her eyes shut trying to control to control the tears for a few seconds. Then she opened them and they were full of sorrow. "Kill me"

Squall's face became a mask of shock. "W-what?"

"Kill me, squall. It's the only way to make this all stop. It's the only way to stop me becoming evil…and it has to be you"

"No way. No you can't ask me to do that. I wont do that"

"Squall. You said you'd do anything for me…"

"I would. I'd do anything except that. There's another solution to this"

"No" she shook her head slowly "No, that's the only way" she started to scratch at the inside of her arm trying to dig her sharp nails into the veins beneath her skin.

Inside Squall felt as if he was completely dying. He could see that Rinoa had been driven to a point of complete madness. He knew he was loosing everything he'd ever loved. He reached out and pulled her close to him. He could feel her sobbing violently in his arms. Between sobs she whispered "Save me Squall"

"I will baby, ok. Look just keep fighting and we'll go and we'll find help. We'll go to garden and…no wait we can't go back to garden. The police are looking for you, and probably me now too."

"There's nowhere I can go Squall. You should just go. Save yourself at least"

"No. we'll find somewhere. Even it means being on the run for the rest of our lives we'll find somewhere."

"But, Garden's your home. You should…"

"Home is not a place Rinoa. My home is wherever you are ok. We can…we can go to Esthar. We can easily get you help there."

The voice hissed with rage "_Help you? HELP YOU? He wants to change you. He can't accept you the way you are. You're destined for evil, he doesn't want that. He doesn't want the real you. He doesn't love you."_

"You're….wrong." Rinoa cried "You're wrong and I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"

But the voice did not respond. She felt a strange and sudden calm in her head. "It's stopped" she whispered.

"You did it" Squall breathed "I think you're safe now. But we still can't stay to long here. We can't risk either of us being found. At least not yet."

"We can go to Esthar, and find Dr. Odine…and then we'll…."

"We'll figure it out" Squall said softly stroking her hair " we'll find a way" He could see something in her, something that showed that she was the old Rinoa once again. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly. "I thought I lost you" he whispered to her.

" I think you did. For a while at least."

"Well I'm not doing it again" he said holding her tightly

She rested her head on his chest and sighed "I'm so tired"

"You might as well get some sleep then. There's no point going anywhere now it's to dark. We'll leave in the morning." Rinoa drifted off to sleep and for once, as she lay in the arms of her knight, she had no nightmare or haunting visions of her bleak future. She was peaceful. Before Squall realised it, he too had drifted off to sleep. A few hours later he flicked his eyes open. The building was flooded with the darkness of the sky outside. Squall glanced at his watch. It was 3.23am. He was about to shut his eyes again when he heard a cloud of voices. They sounded as if they were approaching, and quickly. Immediately he jumped up and went to look out of one of the old broken windows. "What the…." he glanced at what he saw. Outside the old orphanage was an approaching group of 15 or 20 people, lots of them armed with weapons. As they got closer Squall noticed they were…Students? Students from Balamb Garden! Squinting at them Squall noticed that leading the party, holding a flaming torch, was the same troublesome student who seemed to so badly hate him and Rinoa. "What is this" squall muttered to himself. As the party came up close to the old building Squall opened the door and stepped outside.

"what the hell are you all doing here?" he yelled

The leader-student narrowed his eyes at Squall "We're here to get rid of that Witch. Once and for all."

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DUM DUM DUM! Whatever will happen next. Well you'll find out soon, as I'm nearly done with the next chapter


	6. facing it all

**Copyright:**Don't own FF8. As much as i wish i did, i really really don't. which is so unfair. but dont get me started.

**Note:**Well, this is just a short little chapter that basically leads into the next chapter. it is quite short, because it was originally joined with the next chapter, but then the chapter would have been to long so i split them. So this is short. But please keep reading, you are very close to the big conclusion. Again thanks to r, rinoa the wastelander, ironicending,lilnaych,kirsten and Savannahx for reviewing my work. Means alot that you guys enjoy my little stories.And of course Wayne and Hannah, special thanks for both being awesome and for everything you both do. Well, enjoy y'all

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The words echoed in Squalls head. Could this really be happening? Had he solved one of their problems just to be faced with another?

He stood in shock, taken aback by the hatred and harshness in the way the person spoke

"W-what?" he stammered in disbelief

"You heard me. You see, we all knew she'd gone running off. And we also knew it was only going to be a little while before you figured out exactly where you're little witch had ran off to. So all we had to do was follow you. So thank you, you made it so much easier for us. Now were is she?"

"Go home" was all Squall said to them. Outwardly he was calm and confident but inside he was in turmoil and panic.

"No, no, no. We ain't going anywhere, not until we do what we came to do. You see, Commander." He gestured to the people around him "We are SeeD. And our purpose is to kill the sorceress. To rid the world of evil. We're really only living up to what we were taught"

"Rinoa is not evil"

"She's a murderer. She killed two people for no reason. How can you say that's not evil" the guy hissed

'She had nothing to do with those murders and you know it. You're just acting off you're assumptions. You're all so narrow minded you assume she must be evil because she is a sorceress. You're going to persecute someone innocent because you want someone to blame?"

"If she was so innocent, why would she run away. She is a sorceress. Evil, a threat to the world and she's gotta go. You should get all this, afterall you're a SeeD" the guy said. There was something in his voice that showed he thought he was vastly superior to everyone and that he was right. '_he reminds me of Seifer'_ Squall thought to himself.

"You're wrong..I'm a knight"

At this point Rinoa who had finally been awoken by all the commotion, appeared behind Squall in the door way. "What's going on?" she asked seeing the crowd of people

"Hey, there she is!" shouted a voice from the back of the crowd

Squall pushed Rinoa back through the doorway and into the building "You have to wait inside ok?" he told her sounding panicked. He shut the door behind him, just as the leader began approaching closer. He made his way up the steps and he was nearly face to face with Squall.

"I'm warning you" Squall said to the guy "don't take another step"

"And what, exactly." the guy said arrogantly "are you going to do if I do"

"You don't wanna know" Squall hissed.

"Listen. I don't have too much against you. You're not the one who I'm after. She is. But if you get in the way, then I might have to hurt you."

Squall laughed to himself "You really think you're tough"

"I'm asking you nicely. Let me through"

"Let you through so you can kill my girlfriend for no apparent reason….I don't think so"

"If you refuse to let me through then I'll have to get you out of my way.if you want to be a knight to evil, then you're evil too. So one last chance commander. Stand down and let me through"

"No" Squall said firmly

"Fine." the guy passed the torch he was holding to the person behind it and drew a long, shining samurai sword from the side of his belt" "This is going to be an even more important day than I thought. Not only do I get to take out one of the last remaining sorceresses, I'll make history for killing the legendary Squall Leonheart"

Squall quickly drew his gun blade and assumed a defensive position "You wish"

The guy lifted his sword up and swung it aiming for Squalls head, but Squall lifted his gun blade, shielding just in time and the two blades came into contact making a horrible scraping sound. Squall took the opportunity while his opponent was unguarded, lifted his foot and delivered a heavy kick to this guys torso. He flew backwards down some of the stairs before landing at the bottom with a thud. Most of the others flocked around their leader to see if he was still breathing and Squall quickly opened the door, slipped into the building and closed it behind him again, leaning against it.

"What are we going to do" Rinoa said tearfully

"I don't know" Squall said breathing heavily "I really don't know"

"Maybe…Maybe I should just give myself up. Let them .."

"Kill you? No, no way."  
"But this way they'll kill us both."

"Then they can kill us both. Or they can try. But I'm not letting you go out there. If it is the last thing I ever do I'll protect you" as he said this, Squall knew it was more than likely that this was the last thing he'd ever do. But he knew he was atleast going to die for what he believed in.

"There's too many of them. You can't take all of them on. Plus Squall they're your friends, your students"

"They made their choice, and they forced me to make mine. If I have to I'll kill them."

"Squall…."  
"Rinoa, listen to me.Ok I'm going to try and take as many as I can and hold them off. You're going to stay here. Shut the door and use anything you can find to block it ok? If I don't make it….."

"Squall… don't" she said tears falling down her face

"..if I don't make it. Then run. Like hell. Don't give in, don't let them catch you. If I don't make it to go with you then you're going to go to Esthar if you can. Find President Laguna and Ellone."

"But I…"

"Can you promise me you'll do that?"

"I don't want to go without you"

"I know. But you have to promise me Rinoa. If I'm going to die fighting out there, I need to know I'm fighting for your life. That it wasn't all in vain. If you do what I said I know you'll be safe. Then maybe I can rest in peace"

Rinoa was now fully crying, short of breath and terrified. "I promise"

At that moment the door started to shake, someone trying to force their way in from the other side.

"Squall..be careful. You can't die out there. I love you. You have to survive, you have to be with me. Please, please be careful. I don't want not to see you again, I don't want this to have to be goodbye…"

"it won't be…I'll always be here. I promised remember." He reached out and pulled her close. He kissed her quickly "I love you" he said before opening the door. Two of the students who were trying to open the door, stumbled back a few steps as the door swung open. Squall shut the door behind him and prepared to fight…..

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new chapter soon! hope you liked it


	7. The end will always come

**Copyright: **I don't own final fantasy 8. I don't own the characters or anything to do with the game. I'd be horrified if there was someone who didn't know that hehe. I do own this story, which I guess is kind of cool.

**Note: **Wellity, wellity this is it, the final chapter. Sorry it took a little longer to post than the others, I kind of had a little writers block because of the ending of the last chapter. But I got there in the end : ). So my thanks again to Rinoa the wastelander, savannahx(and the fruit fly), r, lilnaych and Kirsten for their reviews throughout this story. Am glad you guys like it. And as usual to Wayne for general rocking and Hannah for helping me out with the pkot lol. Well hope everyone likes the ending, thanks again to everyone who enjoyed this story, this chapters for y'all so I tried to make the ending good. Thanks for your support everyone, peace and love and enjoy the story xx

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A thousand thoughts raced around Squall's head as he was faced with the crowd of people he would be forced to fight . '_there's to many of them, this is impossible' _part of him immediately thought. But then another thought seemed to take over _'Remember why I'm doing this. I have to do this for Rinoa'_. But before Squall had any more time to think about it, his first opponents-a guy who looked slightly older than Squall, maybe about 20, a young brunette girl and a guy Squall recognised to be an instructor-circled him. The first guy was armed with a large fighting staff, the girl with a mace and the instructor specialised in hand to hand combat. The first guy swung his stick aiming a blow that Squall scarcely escaped by ducking down to the ground. He aimed a hard kick at the guys shin, causing him to buckle. Squall aimed a punch squarely at the guys face and he fell backwards and hit the ground. While he was fighting Squall was constantly aware of the others in the group, in particular the leader who he guessed posed the greatest danger to Rinoa. Searching the group he spotted the leader trying to break down the door of the orphanage. Squall knew he had to work faster if he wanted to protect Rinoa from all of these people. The small brunette girl swung her mace, but once again Squall managed to dodge the attack. Fortunately for him, she was not the best aim and her attack ended up hitting the instructor, who fell to the ground as the blow made contact with his stomach. Squall spun around and whacked the girl on the side of her head using the handle for his gun blade and immediately she toppled to the ground. Squall barely had time to breathe before a fresh wave of enemies descended upon him. Squall took down many of the enemies with ease, quick swings and stabs of his gun blade. But everyone he took down caused him a pang of guilt. How many lives had he ended today? How many futures had he destroyed? But still, he knew he had to carry on fighting. But the enemies seemed to become increasingly tough, or he was becoming increasingly weak. He managed to stay relatively unharmed until about 5 more people circled him waiting to attack. He took several punches from a quick-fisted fighter before disabling him with a quick slash across his torso. As much as he knew he was fighting for a reason, the only important thing in his life, he couldn't deny the aching pain and tiredness coursing through his body. Suddenly there was a heavy blow to his back, from behind, which caused him to fall to the ground. Another student quickly swung their dagger and made a deep slash on Squalls face. He tried to force himself up off the ground but when he looked up he found himself staring into the barrel of a gun.

"Well, well, well. I guess this is my chance to make history" said the guy holding the gun "sorry Commander, but you didn't leave me much of a choice"

'_So this is the end?'_ squall thought to himself _'I'm so sorry Rinoa, I couldn't save you. I failed as your knight. Goodbye'_

The guy cocked the gun, but suddenly shots rang out in the air, and one bullet flew straight into the guys arm, causing the gun to drop to the floor and the guy to stagger backwards and trip over one of the bodies lying on the floor. Squall whipped his head round to see what was going on, and was so overwhelmed he could hardly believe his eyes. Standing about 10 yards away, gun raised in the air, was Irvine. And behind him Selphie, Zell and Quistis!Some of the students headed straight for them, knowing that they would be here to help Squall. Before Squall had even managed to haul himself off the floor, Zell had already taken down two people with quick, sharp combos. Irvine made his way over to Squall and helped him off the ground "What are you guys doing here?" Squall asked him

"Well we heard about this whole thing from a few students, so we get here as soon as we could. Better late than never right?" Irvine explained

"I'm so glad to see you guys"

A few more students descended on Squall and Irvine, but they eliminated them with ease.

The group had practically disabled the party of SeeDs, some dead, some only wounded, when Squall heard a loud scream

"Rinoa!"

"Go" Irvine said "we'll hold em off here. Just get Rinoa out of here. Go somewhere safe"

"Ok. Thanks you guys" Squall nodded before turning and starting to run towards the old building.

"Squall" Zell, now standing next to Irvine a few yards behind Squall, shouted. "Let us know were you are man ok?"

Squall nodded to his two friends. Zell responded with a nod and a thumbs up, and Irvine tipped his hat as a sign of respect.

Squall ran for the door way and sped up the steps. Entering the room he saw the leader and Rinoa were the only two people in there, the other remaining students seemed to be occupied with Squall's friends.

The guy was holding his long sword out in front of him, the tip aimed straight for Rinoa's heart.

"If you're going to kill me, what are you waiting for?" Rinoa sobbed

The guy just laughed "I'm deciding you see, I'm deciding whether I should kill you nice and quickly, or make you suffer. It's a tricky choice. But I'm guessing I have a while to make it. You see, my bet would be that your oh so gallant and brave knight is probably dead right now. So I'm betting there's not going to be anybody rushing in here to save you"

"Guess again"

The guy whipped round to see Squall standing in the doorway."well, you deserve more credit than I gave you. I figured you'd be dead right now"

"I figure you'll be dead in about 3 minutes" Squall said bluntly. The guy raised his sword to the battle position "Let's get this over with Leonheart" he said arrogantly.

He made a quick, fluid stabbing motion with his sword and managed to scrape the side of Squalls arm. Blood poured through the tear in his jacket, but he tried to stay focused on the fight.

"Rinoa, get out of here" he breathed

'I don't think so." the guy said. He swivelled round and swung his sword, the tip of which made a deep cut in Rinoas arm. She clasped her hand to the wound and dropped to the floor.  
"You son of a bitch. You'll pay for that" Squall hissed at the guy. He swung his gun blade making a deep cut in the top of the guys leg. Squall couldn't deny this guy was a good fighter, and he definitely had the upper hand given that Squall was wounded and exhausted. But there was an inner strength that kept Squall going, kept him fighting. Every blow the guy struck, Squall managed to block, and vice versa. It was a long fight. After about 5 minutes Squall's exhaustion became too much and he let his guard down for a brief second. Unfortunately it was one second to long. The guy swung his sword with great force and made a huge, deep gash across Squalls torso. Squall dropped his gunblade and stumbled back with pain, and found himself leaning against a wall. The guy approached him and placed the tip of his blade to Squalls throat

"Well, I guess you're not as good as your made out to be. You failed as a SeeD and as a knight. But don't worry, I don't think she'll forget you. I mean the last thing she'll ever see will be you're death. I think….." the guy stopped suddenly as blood began to pour from a wound in his torso. He grabbed his stomach and doubled over, falling to the floor. Behind him Rinoa stood shaking, holding Squalls gun blade, the tip now dripping with blood, as tears ran down her face.

She dropped the gun blade and rushed over to Squall

"are you alright?" she asked desperately

'_No' _Squall thought to himself as he placed his hands to his chest and blood dripped down them '_I'm probably about to die'_

"Yeh, I'm fine baby. Don't worry about me." he said breathlessly. Suddenly there was a wailing of sirens

"the police" Rinoa cried

"Yeh, there after you, actually both of us now. We've gotta go. The others can distract them" Squall tried to force himself off the wall, but the pain caused him to sink back down again. "you…you have to go without me" he said tears forming in his eyes

"No" Rinoa said firmly "we both go or we both stay. I need my knight."

"Fine" Squall, although it caused him incredible, unbearable pain forced himself off the ground "then lets go"

"Wait. Let me try something" Rinoa closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She placed her hands out and suddenly a strange white glow poured from them

"Cure magic. Did it work?" she asked frantically

Squall placed his hand to were his wound had been. His chest still hurt, but the bleeding wound has gone. "Yeh. Thank you baby. But we got to go. Right now" he grabbed her by the hand and together they ran from the orphanage, from centra. They just ran. Neither of them knew were they were running to, they were running into uncertainty, but all that mattered to either of them was that they were running together. And they always would be.


End file.
